Sweet Dream, Beautiful Nightmare
by LetsGiveThisOneMoreShot
Summary: From the outside looking in, Samantha had what seemed to be a wonderful life. She was living with her boyfriend who currently made enough money for both of them to live comfortably without her having to work. He always made sure she had everything she needed. The only thing that people didn't realize about the house was that it was his home and her prison.
1. Chapter 1

From the outside looking in, Samantha had what seemed to be a wonderful life. She was living with her boyfriend who currently made enough money for both of them to live comfortably without her having to work. He always made sure she she had her nails done, her hair done, had nice clothes, and had everything she needed. The only thing that people didn't realize about the house was that it was his home and her prison.

Things has really changed a lot for Samantha in the last few years. She just happened to go to the nearby mall one day due to boredom and stumble upon an autograph signing. After asking a few questions, she realized it was one of her favorite wrestlers. She snuck herself into the tail end of the line to see him. Once she got up there, being at the end of the line and having time constraints a little more relaxed, they got to talk for an extra minute or two. He told her that after this he was going to grab something to eat and asked her if she would like to join him. He really liked that she was easy to talk to and not just throwing herself at him like so many other women do. Now she was standing in a hotel room in a sapphire blue evening gown, fixing her make-up in the mirror getting ready to go to the hall of fame ceremony with her boyfriend.

"You almost ready to go?" He asked checking on her as he entered the room. He was dressed in an all black suit, complete with black tie. His long hair pulled back into a bun.

"Almost. Just adding some finishing touches." She replied as she put on her lipstick.

"You look beautiful." He said with a smiling as he admired her.

Her dress was form fitting, but not revealing. She had dangling earrings that matched. She chose this one because he said it really brought out the blue in her eyes and made them sparkle. Her long light brown hair dangled in a sea of wavy curls.

She turned around towards him and smiled as well. "You don't look so bad yourself."ld

He held his hand out to her. "Shall we?"

She grabbed her clutch off of the dresser and walked over to took his hand.

Tonight would hopefully be a good night. It would be an exciting yet emotional ceremony. Followed by a big party. Then tomorrow night was their biggest show of the year. The rest of the week would have some of the most electric filled live events. Samantha was also excited to get to spend time with some of the friends she made through Seth that she mostly only got to see on T.V.

As they got to the event, they made their way through the sea of photographers and interviewers. She just stood by his side, smiling while looking up at him. He had gone public with their relationship last spring. Not extremely public, but enough that people knew he had a girlfriend. Every once in a while he would post a picture with her to his social media. She didn't really want to be in the spotlight. She just enjoyed that he was serious enough about her to let people know he was taken.

Once the ceremony was over, most of the wrestlers and their guests made their way to the venue that had been rented out for an after party. It was mostly just a cocktail party for everyone to spend time and unwind after the stoic ceremony. Get to talk to some of the older guys that aren't around often and blow off some steam before the show tomorrow.

Samantha was standing alone in the room holding a glass of wine when Finn Balor came over to her. Finn and Seth spent a lot of time on the road and in the gym together, so he was one of the guys that she knew pretty well.

"Hi Finn!" She greeted with a big smile giving him a hug.

"How ya been darlin?" He said as he hugged her back.

"I've been good. Can't complain. How about you? Who are you here with?"

"I brought my mom." He replied.

"Oh, is she here? I'd love to meet her!" Samantha asked as she looked around.

"No. She went back to the hotel to get some rest. The travel and time change are doing a number on her." He answered.

"Aw, that's a shame."

"Sammy!" A woman's voice yelled out before attacking her.

"Hi Renee." Samantha laughed. "I missed you too."

"I'm so glad you came!"

The two women had grown close. Renee's husband had worked with Seth during their time in NXT, and they were called up together for T.V teaming for quite some time. Now they were rivals. But behind the camera they were still the best of friends. Them spending time together caused their significant others to spend time together. Renee was very laid back and east to get along with. Renee also worked for the company as well, so she understood how long they were away from home and how little people actually got to see their families. She kind of took Samantha under her wing and was there for her to explain everything and help her get used to him not being there. Plus that meant whenever there was a show nearby, they could spend time together. And she knew that Renee would do her best to keep their boys in line while on the road.

"I'll leave you ladies alone to catch up. I'll see you tomorrow." Finn politely excused himself and left to go over to the bar.

"So did he tell you anything?" Renee asked as Finn left.

"About?" Samantha questioned.

Renee sighed. "I know he's close to you and Seth so I was hoping he'd say something about Becky."

"Whoa, what about Becky?" Samantha asked surprised. "Are they together?"

"No. Well, at least they won't admit it if they are. We all swear that they have it bad for each other. We don't know if they don't see it or just won't admit it. But they've been a lot closer lately, so we thought maybe. I was hoping he'd say something to you."

"No he didn't. But I really didn't talk to him for that long before you came over." Samantha stated. "What makes you think something's going on?"

"Girl, let's go get a drink and we can talk."

"What do you think they're talking about?" Seth asked Dean as he watched them from across the room.

"Man, I don't know and I don't want to know." Dean laughed taking a sip of his beer.

A few hours had passed. Samantha spend most of her time with Renee, and Renee introduced her to the girls that she spends most of her time with while on the road. It was a little after two in the morning when she finally excused herself to go and find Seth.

"Babe it's getting late. We should get going." She whispered to him.

"I'm not ready yet." He slurred.

"You told me to make sure you didn't have too much and to get you back early so you weren't a mess for tomorrow." She tried to explain.

"I said I'm not ready. Now leave me alone." He said then knocked into her as he tried to push passed her.

"Seth, please." Her response was met with him turning around and shooting her a cold stare. "Fine. Drink yourself into a shit show tomorrow. I tried."

Frustrated, Samantha left the party to go back to the hotel. She didn't really have much money in her purse, so a cab was out of the question. Luckily the hotel was only a few blocks away so she was able to walk. It actually wouldn't have been that bad of a walk had it not been in the middle of the night and she was in a floor length dress with heels. When she got to the hotel, she couldn't wait to run upstairs and get changed into something more comfortable. She had put on her sweatpants and a t-shirt, and was in the bathroom washing her face when she heard the hotel room door open. She saw from the bathroom Seth drunkenly stumble into the room. He looked around and didn't see her until she walked out of the bathroom and over to the bed.

"What the hell is your problem?" He slurred again.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who's angry." Samantha replied as she pulled back the covers.

"You left the party without telling anyone. I had to leave and catch a ride back here with someone to come find you." He said aggravated as he walked over to her.

"You're the one who told me to leave you alone!" Samantha fired back. "Then again, you also asked me to make sure you didn't drink too much and you see how well that worked out."

His eyes narrowed at her as he stood in front of her. Instead or arguing back with her, he reached up and back handed her hard across the face causing her to actually fall down onto the bed,. She held her cheek and looked at him in surprise. He turned away from her and disappeared into the bathroom without another word. She sat up on the edge of the bed, still cradling her cheek in her hand.

'So much for it being a good night.' She thought.

The sun was shining through the window early the next morning. Their alarm blared loudly waking them up. Seth flung his arm over to turn it off. He rubbed his forehead and groaned. Samantha was awake, but she laid still facing away from him.

"You were right." He grumbled. "I should have come home earlier."

"Mmhmm." Was all she replied with, still facing away.

"I'm sorry." He started as he rolled over towards her, leaning himself up on his elbow. "I was an asshole. That's why I really don't drink often. I don't handle it well. But one with this guy and one with that guy turned into, well...a lot. And I feel like crap because of it, just like you said I would. And I wasn't myself last night."

She rolled onto her back and looked up at him. A reddish mark was sprayed across her face. He reached down and gently placed his hand on her cheek.

"I'm sorry."

"I was just trying to do what was best for you." She said.

"I know. Was a jerk." He replied.

"Yes." She agreed.

"How about you go get a shower and I'll run out and grab us some breakfast. Whatever you want." Seth offered with a smile.

"No, you go shower. I'll go get food. You have a big day ahead of you today" Samantha said, trying to be understanding. She didn't want to make a big deal about it today of all days.

"Are you sure?" Seth asked.

"I'm sure. And I'll make sure to get plenty of coffee." She said while trying to smile.

He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, then rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom. She got out of bed herself and found a sweatshirt and a pair of sunglasses to throw on before going off to find them something to eat.


	2. Chapter 2

Seth had to be at the arena early that day to make sure everything was all set for that night. He was in the main event for the title against Roman and Dean. It wasn't the Shield reunion everyone was expecting, but it was one that everyone was excited for. While he was getting himself situation Samantha was back at the hotel working on her name-up. She was trying to cover up the red marks that were still visible. Clothing wise she had a much more casual and comfortable look tonight with a pair of jeans, a Seth Rollins shirt, and sneakers. Once she felt like she was ready enough she found someone to get a ride to the arena with.

"Hey girl! What happened to you last night?" Renee asked once Samantha got there.

"Sorry, I was worn out. I went back to the hotel to go to sleep." Samantha lied.

"Seth was pissed."

"He knew where I was. He was probably just too drunk and forgot. Or didn't listen to me in the first place." Samantha said trying ti play the situation off.

"That sounds about right. Dean doesn't listen to half the things I say." Renee agreed.

"Have you seen him around anywhere? I wanted to wish him luck."

"Last I saw he was back there by the entrance ramp." Renee pointed. "I gotta get going too. I need to get ready for tonight. I'll see you later! And hey, with any luck, maybe one of us will be going home with a champion!" She winked

Samantha made her way to where Renee said she last saw Seth. He was still there, talking with Roman, discussing the match for later.

"Hey Sam." Roman greeted as she walked up to them.

"Hey Roman. How are you?" Samantha said back.

She didn't really see Roman all that much. Not that she had any problems with him. He was just more of a family man spending his free time with his wife and daughter. And unlike Dean's wife, she wasn't on the road with them. She stayed at their home working and taking care of their daughter So she just didn't spend as much time with him as she did with some others.

"I'm doing well. How about yourself?"

"Good. I just wanted to come by and wish this guy some luck tonight. And to remind you all to be careful." She said.

"That was nice of you." Roman smiled.

"I try. How are you feeling?" She asked Seth.

"Surprisingly good. Adrenaline is kicking in and taking care of everything." He answered.

"Good. I'm glad. I don't want to take up too much of your time and get in the way. I know you two are in the middle of something."

"Thanks babe. I'll see you after the show." Seth said as e gave her a big hug.

"Just please remember to be careful. All of you." Samantha said before she left.

"Yes mom." Roman joked.

Samantha left them so they could finished preparing and was going to lay low in Seth's locker room before she was able to go take her seat in the audience. She didn't want to end up being in the way of anyone getting ready for the big show. She was on her way there when she ran into Finn.

"Hey!" He said meeting her. "I'm glad I caught you. I got some good news for you."

"Oh yeah?"

"It looks like your seat is right next to my mom's tonight. So you'll get to meet her after all."

"Awesome! I can't wait! I hope she has a bunch of embarrassing pictures of you." Samantha smiled.

"'m sure she does. I think that's standard when you become a mom."

"Balor! There you are! I've been looking for you." Samantha and Finn both looked up to see Baron Corbin walking over to them. "We need to meet up with Elias and make sure we got our spot set up."

"Yeah sure. I'll be there in a minute." Finn replied.

"Who's this? You finally get a girlfriend?" Baron teased.

"No, no. This is Samantha. She's Seth's girlfriend." Finn corrected.

"Oh. I've heard about you. Nice finally meeting you." Baron said extending out his hand.

"Nice to meet you. And that's always a terrifying statement." She replied shaking his hand.

Baron chuckled. "Don't worry. Nothing bad. "We really do need to go make sure we have everything squared away for later though."

"Of course. Finn you go, I'll talk with you later." Samantha pushed.

"Thanks for understanding." Baron said to her.

She gave him a friendly smile. "Go do what you need to do."

After that, it didn't take them very long to find Elias as he wandered over to them.

"Guys. I can't find my bag!" He said sounding very upset.

"Okay." Baron stated.

"Not okay. He has all my bandannas and scarves and guitar picks and stuff in it."

"Really? That's what you're worried about right now?" Baron questioned.

"Yes. It has everything I need for my outfit tonight!" Elias answered.

"Elias calm down. Where do you last remember having it? Did you bring it to the arena with you, or did you maybe leave it at the hotel?" Finn asked trying to help out.

"I remember bringing it here and putting it in the locker room with the guitar." He answered.

Samantha reached into her back pocket and pulled out the bandanna she had in there. She usually carried around hair accessories for when her hair started to annoy her. It being outdoors, she figured at some point she'd need to get it out of her face. She held it out towards Elias.

"You can use this one if you want." She offered.

She took him by surprise. He was so worked up he hadn't even seen her standing there.

"That way you'll at least have this one. And I'm sure you can find some stuff around here if you ask around and scrape something together."

"Thanks.."He said trailing off.

"Sam." She finished.

"Seth's girlfriend." Baron added.

"Ah. Well thank you Sam." Elias said taking the bandanna.

"You're welcome. I'll let you guys talk. It was nice meeting you."

She found her seat out in the crowd and spent most of the night talking with Finn's mom. She was actually having a really nice time. She was telling his mom about all the late night calls her son would be a part of when he and Seth traveled together. She told him how nice Finn always was. He had a playful charm about him. She sort of looked him as like a big brother type of friend.

They both cheered him on during his match that night. At one point the referee was checking on Finn and Elias slid into the ring smashing his guitar over Baron's head causing pieces to fly everywhere. That caused Finn to pick up the win and take his career off into a new direction. They both jumped to their feet screaming for him.

For Seth's match Samantha was on the edge of her seat. She couldn't help but worry. Sure they were all professionals and wouldn't purposely put anyone in danger, but with the excitement of everything things happen. They all wanted to put on the best show possible. This was Seth's life. He worked for it since a very young ge. He put a lot of pressure on himself and she knew he would do anything to give the audience the best show he could, even if it meant sacrificing himself. It felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. Pretty soon it was so loud it started drowning out all of the fans screaming around her until that was the only thing she could hear. Finally, the referee had counted to three, the bell had rung, and it was over. She wasn't sure how long she had been holding her breath. She wasn't even aware she was until she finally exhaled.

"The winner, and NEW WWE champion, Seth Rollins!"

The crowd roared as fireworks shot off into the sky. He stood up on the ropes holding the belt into the air. Roman was still knocked down in the middle of the ring and Dean was on the outside pounding his first into the floor. Once again Seth was on top of the WWE.

A short while later she found herself mixed in with the excitement of the backstage area. Everyone was celebrating, proud of the show they had all put on. She found Seth surrounded by his co-workers congratulating him. He looked over and saw her standing silently in the crowd around him and motioned for her to come over to him. She walked over and he grabbed her pulling her into a tight hug

"I'm so proud of you." She said looking up at him. "I know how hard you've worked for this."

He kissed her on the top of the head. Thanks babe. I have this, I have you, I have everything I need."

He held the belt up with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist pulling her into a passionate kiss. That was a picture that was taken and put up on social media in a matter of seconds.

"What do you say when I'm done here we go back to the hotel and celebrate?" Seth whispered to her.

"Whatever you want champ." She replied with a smile.

Seth left to go have some promotional pictures taken and to get some after match interviews done. After that he showered real quick and got changed. Samantha waited for him in his locker room. While she sat there alone, she couldn't help but to think back on the day they met.

"_It's nice to be able to talk to someone." Seth said as he sat across from Samantha at a diner._

"_I would think you do a lot of talking with all the people you meet." Samantha said as she ate a french fry._

_He thought for a moment. "I do, I guess. But I don't always get to converse. It's always 'I'm such a big fan' or 'what's your favorite match' or 'tell us about your work out routine'. It's all part of the job, I get it. I don't mind it. It just gets lonely sometimes." He explained. "It's nice to come across someone who's down to earth and just wants to talk. Especially a female."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_Most times when I meet a woman, its either a mom who brought her son and doesn't want to be there to begin with, or women flaunting themselves saying vulgar things to me."_

"_Usually men wouldn't be too upset about that." Samantha laughed. _

"_Don't get me wrong, it's flattering. And every once in a while if I meet a nice attractive girl out on the road we might hook up, when I'm single of course. But it's just the older I get, and the more I see it happening, the more I think, why don't you have more respect for yourself rather than throwing yourself at a complete stranger? Ya know?"_

"_Wow. You are not who I thought you would be Seth Rollins." Samantha stated._

"_See! That's exactly my point! You know my face, you know my name, but you don't know me. Why would you just trust yourself with a complete stranger like that! That make horror movies about that!" Samantha couldn't help but laugh at his response. "Hopefully it's not a bad thing that I'm not what you thought." He added._

"_It's not. I'm not going to lie, the fangirl in me almost stopped breathing when you asked me if I wanted to meet you for dinner. But the actual person in me was worried that you were only looking for someone to sleep with and I'm just not that kind of person." She explained. _

_He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. "Well you are a very beautiful woman, but that wasn't my intention here today. I'm really enjoying our time together and I'd hate to see it end. Actually, I would like to call you sometime, if that's okay."_

"_I would like that." Samantha smiled. _

_She felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart fluttered. The realistic person in her again was saying, 'this is the last you're going to hear from him', but she had hope that that was wrong. She never imagined what it would have actually turned in to._

"You ready to go Babe?" Seth asked, snapping her out of her thoughts as he entered the room.

"Yeah." She replied as she stood up.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked as she joined his side.

"Just about the day we met."

"That was one hell of a life changing autograph signing." Seth stated as they walked through the arena.

"I'll say." Samantha added. "Are you still glad I ended up going to the mall that day?"

"Absolutely." He answered as he put his arm around her as they walked.


	3. Chapter 3

Monday morning Samantha joined Seth at the arena. He still had to do some interviews for the show that night, some meetings, photos and whatnot. She went with him to the arena to be there supporting him, but she tried to just hang back with people she knew while waiting for him. She was with some of the new girls that she met over the weekend. "There you are! I tried calling you to see when you'd get here but it kept going right to voicemail!" Renee said as Samantha sat down with them.

"Oh. I don't have a cell phone anymore." Samantha replied.

"I'm sorry what?" Renee asked as she blinked rapidly.

"I don't have one. I kept losing it and breaking it. So I stopped replacing it. Better than paying for it and service when I barely had it."

"How do you talk to people?" Renee asked in disbelief.

"We;re not Amish Renee. There is a house phone at home. And that's where I am most of the time."

"That's just crazy! What about social media?"

"Not everyone needs to post their whole life to Instagram everyday." Dean aid joining the conversation.

"Oh shut up." Renee said to her husband.

"We do have a computer at home too. But I mostly just use it to find recipes and pay bills."

"I'm right there with ya doll." Dean said to her. "Mush more old fashioned."

"How do you two live in this world?"

"Much less stressed." Dean answered as he put his feet up.

It wasn't until the early afternoon when Seth was finally getting a break. He was on his way back to his locker room when he was stopped in the hallway.

"Hey Seth!" Elias called out to him.

Seth stopped and nodded. He wondered what Elias could have wanted since the two of them never really talked. "What's up?"

"Could you give this back to Samantha for me? I was going to but I haven't seen her around anywhere." Elias asked as he handed the black bandanna to Seth. Seth raised his eyebrow looking confused. She let me borrow it last night when my gear went missing."

"Oh, okay." Seth replied.

"I was freaking out last night when I couldn't find it. Turns out Chris grabbed it by mistake. Anyway, she let me use it so I'd have one and suggested how I go about finding other things around that I could use. She tried to help. She seems really nice." Elias explained. "Tell her I said thank you again."

"Sure man I will." Seth said then continued to his locker room.

He turned down another hallway towards his small private room. He saw the door was ajar and could see a glimpse of Samantha sitting on a folding chair deep in conversation. He pushed the door open and saw she was talking with one of the women who worked backstage.

"Hey Janet, do you think you could give us a minute?" Seth asked her.

"Sure. I need to get back to work anyway. I'll see you around later." Janet said as she turned to leave.

"I'll catch up with you later." Samantha said to her as Janet left mostly closing the door behind her. "How'd everything go?" She asked Seth once they were alone.

"Do you wanna tell me what this is?" He asked as he held out the article of clothing out in front of him.

"I'm pretty sure it's a bandanna?" She answered confused. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Wanna tell me why Elias just handed it to me and asked me to thank you?" He said angrily and threw it at her.

She immediately stood up. "Whoa, Seth calm down. He was a mess because he couldn't find his stuff so I have it to him so he'd have something. I also told him he could probably find other stuff around the arena if he looked. That's all."

"And how exactly did you end up alone with him last night?" Seth asked standing right in front of her, almost as if he was accusing her.

"I wasn't alone. I was with Finn and Baron, then Elias came over."She started explaining to try and calm him down, but he ended up interrupting her seeming more upset.

"You were with that asshole too?!"

"Seth. That was just mean."

"I don't know much about Elias, but I've heard stories about Baron. I don't want you near him."

"He seemed nice." Samantha said absentmindedly.

Seth almost growled at her comment. He wrapped his hand around her throat and violently pushed her up against the wall. She grabbed at his wrist as she struggled to breathe.

"I said I don't want you near him, you hear me?" He yelled in her face. She tried to nod as best as she could. "In fact, I don't want you alone with any man around here again. Even half the women that run around here are questionable."

He released her and the collapsed onto the ground gasping for air.

"You better hope I never find a piece of your clothes with another man again."

He walked over to the door that was still slightly open and slammed it shut.

Samantha spent the rest of the night in Seth's locker room. Not only did she not want to face anyone right now, she was afraid to. SHe didn't want to end up with the wrong person and make Seth more upset. His temper varied and it was getting to the point where she didn't know how he'd be from day to day. When they met he was so gentle and kind, she never even saw him upset. Over time, she started to see him angry. But at just normal everyday things that would upset anybody. Sometimes he yelled at her, sometimes he just yelled in general. After that he would start to throw things in anger. It wasn't until months in he actually started to take his anger out on her. Little by little. But that was the real reason she didn't have a phone anymore. They had gotten into an argument one night about her being on it too much when he was home and not spending time with him. And using it too much when he was on the road talking to other people. During that argument he ended up smashing her phone, throwing it onto the ground and stepping on it. He said he didn't see any reason why she needed it. He needed a cell phone because of all the traveling he did and the only reason he used social media was because of work. She didn't need it because she was at home and there was a phone there. She was free to use it and call her family and all, but she knew he was monitoring it. He looked over the phone bill every month to see what numbers had been called and how long the conversations lasted. And she wasn't lying to Renee. There was a laptop at home that she was free to use, but it was also linked up with all of his accounts so from his phone he could see everything she did on it.

The show had to have been winding down. She heard a lot more hustle and bustle in the hallway. Usually that meant people going back and forth getting everything they needed to start heading out. And she knew that Seth had left some time ago for his match and he was in the main event. So it couldn't be long now.

Shortly, Seth came back into the room. He got changed silently and got all of his gear together while she just sat there watching him.

"Did you eat yet?" He asked breaking the silence.

She just shook her head. For most of the night, she really wasn't hungry. And even if she was, she was too afraid to go to catering on her own in case she ended up with the wrong people, and she didn't see anyone around that she could have gone with.

"Let's run by catering on the way out and grab something to take with us from what they have left." Seth suggested.

She didn't reply. She just stood up and grabbed her fleece jacket and zipped it out. Seth grabbed his bags and they walked out of the locker room in search of food. There were a handful of other people in the catering area doing the same thing they were. Samantha just grabbed some fruit and a bag of chips and stood against the wall waiting for Seth. She was just zoning out and didn't notice when someone walked up next to her and jumped when they spoke.

"Hey Darlin, where were you hiding? I didn't even know you were here."

"Jesus Finn." Samantha said as she clutched her chest.

He chuckled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Hey, are you feeling okay?" He asked, noticing she looked a little off.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just tired." She replied trying to sound normal.

"Are you coming down with something?"

"Probably, being around all of these people."

"Can I get you anything?" Finn offered.

"No thanks. I'll just get some tea when I get back to the hotel and rest."

She noticed Seth walking back over to them and she straightened up.

"Hey man. Hell of a show tonight." Finn greeted.

"As always." Seth replied with a smile "You getting ready to head out?"

"Yeah I was on my way out now." Finn replied.

"You wanna ride back with us? We were just leaving." Seth offered.

"Sure. But if Sam ends up getting me sick I'm going to kick your ass." Finn joked as he picked up his bag. "Whatever she's coming down with, I don't want it."

Seth looked at him a little confused as he followed Finn out of the building. Samantha hopped into the back seat of their rental car allowing the two men to sit up front together. They made small talk along the ride back to the hotel. Once they were alone in their hotel room, Seth questioned her about earlier.

"So what the hell was Finn talking about?"

"He asked where I had been because he hadn't seen me. I told him that I was just relaxing and tired and he kind of took it that I was sick. So I just went with it." She replied.

Seth seemed satisfied with her answer and left to go get a shower. When he was dried off and dressed she was already laying in bed. He got in next to her and draped his arm over her.

The next morning, there was still no discussion of what happened the previous day. No apology, no asking any questions, he just acted as if nothing had happened. She somehow convinced Seth to let her stay back at the hotel that day. He knew she felt weird being there and only showed up for him, and he wasn't wrestling that night. And there was already word going around that she didn't feel well, so he didn't fight her on it. Part of her didn't want to stay back because she was missing out on the last day with her friends, but a big part of her didn't think she could go and face them right now. She wasn't even really sure how to act around Seth right now let alone other people. He rarely ever put his hands on her, but this weekend wasn't bringing out the best in him. She just tried to tell herself it was due to all of the stress of the shows.

She spent most of the day just laying in the bed and watching television. Seth had called her a few times on the hotel phone to check up on her. At first it was nice and seemed like he was going back to his caring self. But after the third time, she just found it annoying. It was more as if he was checking to see if she was actually there rather than just checking in on how she was feeling.

That night Seth and Finn rode back to the hotel together again.

"How's Sam feeling?" Finn asked during their drive.

"She's okay. I think she just needed some rest. She's not used to this kind of a schedule, especially with everything that's going on this week. I think it's just a lot for her to take in." Seth replied while driving.

"Good, good. I um, I have another question that I wasn't to ask. I'm not really sure how to ask it, but I feel like I have to."

"Okay…"

"Last night when I was talking to Sam, she seemed a little bit off, and I noticed she had some marks on her throat that weren't there when I saw her on Sunday."

Seth sighed and rubbed his forehead while driving.

"What happened?" Finn asked.

"We got a little crazy while celebrating the other night. Got a little rough and carried away and didn't realize it until later. I was hoping the marks wouldn't have lasted, but looks like they did." Seth lied.

"Ah." Finn nodded.

"Don't mention anything to her about it though, okay? She'd get really embarrassed about someone knowing something like that."

"I won't say anything." Finn assured. "She really does seem like the quiet shy type."

"She is. She'd probably ever be able to look you in the eye again if she found out you knew about this."


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few months Seth's schedule got a little more demanding, which was expected. It left Samantha feeling a bit underwhelmed though. When she moved to Davenport, she wasn't able to find a job as quickly as she hoped. Seth didn't mind it though. He made enough money that she was able to stay there and they didn't have to worry about it. And he kind of liked that there was someone at the house helping him do all of the chores that he normally had to do on his days off taking up all of his free time. With her at home to help out with the laundry and house cleaning so that when he had his two days a week off he was actually able to enjoy them with her and do things.

At first it was great for both of them, she didn't mind helping out and doing things. But over time it got more difficult. She didn't have a car because she shared with her sister back home. And Seth didn't really like anyone else driving his car. He had the keys with him on his key ring. So she either had to walk. Thankfully every Tuesday she was able to go to the food store with their next door neighbor so she had a ride and a place to store the groceries, but she hated having to reply on someone else for that and make it their problem. She also had to work on budgeting. Since she wasn't making much of an income, she was put onto Seth's checking account so whenever she went shopping she'd use his money. She wanted to make sure she wasn't spending too much. Over time, the only person she really had to talk to was the next door neighbor Megan. When she was home they would get together in one of their backyards and talk or something like that, but Megan also had her own job and life to live. It just got to be over time that it wasn't her helping him out as much as she was just expected to do it. Whatever he told her to do while he was gone she was to do with no questions, no refusing, and have it done by correctly by the time he got home. That wasn't what she signed up for when she agreed on moving in.

There were times she wanted to talk with her sister about how she felt, but it seemed like every time she tried bringing up her living situation, her sister would gush about how lucky she was that she didn't have to get up and go to work and had Seth Rollins coming home to her. She knew her sister wasn't doing it on purpose, but after she felt so positive about everything, Samantha didn't want to say something that would upset her. And she was too scared to talk to Megan about it because she didn't want Megan to say something to Seth. It was hard, but she realized if she wanted things to change, she had to have a talk with him and let him know how she was feeling. So she spent the next few days going over what she would say in her head so she could talk with him when he came home.

"Seth, we need to talk/" Samantha said as they sat on the couch after dinner.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I'm not happy." She said a little more bluntly than she had planned.

"What do you mean you're not happy?" He asked confused and a little upset.

"I'm not happy with how things are." She admitted.

"What's there not to be happy about? We go out to dinner, I give you money to get your nails done, make sure you have nice clothes, you don't have to deal with the stress of going to a job everyday. What more do you want from me?"

"First of all, I never asked for any of that. And that's not what it is, it's everything you expect from me."

"What?" He said with an aggravated chuckle. "For you to do a few loads of laundry and do the food shopping and vacuum while I'm away? It's really the least you could do since you're here all day while I'm the one actually working."

"Did you ever think maybe I wanted to work?" She argued back. "I have no problem helping out around the house Seth but it's not every woman's dream to be a homemaker anymore."

"You're fucking kidding me right?" He asked chuckling again.

She just tilted her head in disbelief of how this conversation was actually going. "No. I'm not. And while we're on it, all of the other things that you "allow me to do" I do them because of you. I don't need fancy clothes, I really don't care about getting my nails done all the time, I do it because you seem to think it's important. Honestly if it were up to me, I'd rather you take the money you spend on that stuff and replace my phone you broke so I could have some kind of contact with the outside world!" Samantha explained getting out all of the frustration that had been building up.

He sat there for a minute, as if he was thinking about everything she had said. She was hoping that maybe she was finally getting through to him. Then he finally spoke. "You really are an ungrateful bitch, you know that?"

"Excuse me?"

"I take care of you, give you the life any woman would kill to have, and you have the nerve to tell me you're not happy with any of it and then ask me for money."

"I never asked you for a damn thing Seth. The only thing I said was if you wanted to put your money somewhere I'd be happier with you replacing something of mine that you broke. But I never asked you for anything since we've met."

She could see the rage building up in his eyes as he stared at her. He stood up off of the couch, both his fists and his jaw clenched tightly. He walked in front of her and just stared down at her.

"If that's how you feel, then get your shit, and get out." He said in a deep voice, then walked out of the room.

"Seth, wait. That's not what I want." She said following him.

"Obviously it is. You want a job. You want to be with other 'd rather be on social media instead of talking with me. So go."

"Seth, that's not what I said."

"Isn't it?" He asked as he turned and walked close to her catching her off guard. He started taking steps towards her, but whenever he took one forward she took one back until she was backed up against a wall by their front door.

"So you're trying to backtrack now and tell me you didn't just call me selfish and demanding?"

"I, I didn't." She stuttered as she was trapped between his muscular frame and the wall.

"Not in those exact words."

"I just wanted to talk to you about how I was feeling, and see if there was anything we could change. I didn't mean to upset you." She stammered.

She could barely look at him as he stood in front her her staring her down. Even though he wasn't moving, the look in his eye and the tone of his voice was enough to make her flinch. She didn't want to fight, she just wanted to talk things out. Maybe see about her getting her own job, and then getting her own car. Making them more partners in life and she could do the things she had dreamed of. She really did have strong feelings for him and she wanted them to adjust and move their lives forward together, not break up.

"You're lucky I haven't already grabbed you and thrown your ass out on the lawn." He growled. "So are you going to leave or do I have to drag you out?"

"I don't want to leave." She almost whispered looking down.

Even though she was scared at the moment, it was pouring rain outside, late, and she had nowhere to go and barely any money to get anywhere. She was just hoping that she could make him see this was a misunderstanding and they could fix it.

"What makes you think I should let you stay here?"

"Because I want to and don't want to leave you." She choked out, both with sadness and fear in her voice.

"Because I'm a nice guy, I'll let you stay the night. But only to try and earn my forgiveness. If you don't, you and your shit will be thrown into the yard in the morning. Got it?"

She quietly nodded at him. She honestly didn't have any idea what he had in mind, The way he smiled down at her was something she had never seen before. She couldn't pinpoint what it was about it, but something about it made her stomach turn.


	5. Chapter 5

**Flashback**

_There was a show about four hours away from where Samantha lived. Seth had surprised her on several occasions with flowers sent to her work, showing up on his days off, so she decided that this time she would surprise him. She took off of work and made the drive to the town where the show was being held that night. Finding out his room without giving it away would be difficult, but figuring out the hotel wasn't that hard. _

_She had tried to get to the hotel with a good amount of time before the show so she could find Seth and surprise him, then go and watch him perform. When she walked into the lobby, it was pretty crowded. She recognized some of the faces, there were also a lot of people in wrestling shirts hoping to meet their favorite stars, and a few people walking around in suits obviously on business trips trying to avoid all of the commotion. _

_She scanned the lobby looking for that one specific face. She finally saw him near the elevator with a big adorable smile across his face as he was deep in conversation. Samantha looked at who he was talking to. It was a young woman who barely looked legal. She wasn't wearing much. She had on very short jean shorts with a Seth Rollins tank top on. She was looking up at him smiling as well, trying to touch his arm as they talked. Samantha didn't think much of it. Sure she didn't really like it, but she knew this happened all the time. He even told her when they met he gets women who throw themselves at him a lot. She was just going to wait until Seth was done talking and sneak her way over to him, but her plans changed when she saw him go into the elevator and the young woman follow him. She quickly walked across the lobby dodging people to get to the elevator in time. She made it, barely. And the last thing that Seth saw before the doors has closed was his girlfriend's face looking at him and his whole expression changed._

_Once the doors closed, she turned around and stormed through the lobby. She had almost made it to the front doors when she was stopped. _

"_Hey girl! I didn't know you were going to be here today!" Renee said surprised as she happened to come across her friend. "Where are you going?"_

"_Home." Samantha stated and tried to push right past her. _

"_Hey hold on. What's wrong?" Renee asked concerned as she stopped her. _

"_I came here to surprise Seth. Clearly I did because the look on his face when he saw me while in the elevator with a half naked girl showed that."_

"_Oh honey." Renee said as she put her arm around her friend. "I'm sure it's not what you thought."_

"_Sam, wait!" They heard Seth calling as he ran out of the stairwell. "What are you doing here?"_

"_Apparently interrupting your fun so I'll just go and let you get back to it." Samantha replied annoyed and went to turn around to leave, but both Renee and Seth stopped her. _

"_Seth, I'm not sure now is the right time." Renee tried to say to him._

"_She's my girlfriend Renee. I'm the one that needs to talk to her." _

"_And she's my friend and she's really upset right now. You need to give her some time to calm down." Renee reasoned. _

"_And she's right here and doesn't feel like talking to anyone right now." Samantha interjected. _

"_Sam, you can't leave right now. I don't feel comfortable with you driving by yourself right now. I have some time before I have to leave for the show. Why don't you come back to my room with me and we can talk. I'll send Dean down to Seth's room to give us some privacy." Renee suggested._

"_Rene come on, you know me." Seth said preventing both of them from getting by._

"_And that doesn't matter right now. What matters is how she feels." Renee replied, then with her arm wrapped around Samantha's shoulders walked past him. _

_Once she and Samantha were in the elevator, she took out her phone and sent a text to Seth._

'_Just give her a little time to talk and calm down. I'll be with her. You can talk with her before we leave for the show.'_

'_Thanks Renee." He sent back. He sighed. He fucked up and he knew it._

_Within the hour, Dean and Seth went back to his room to check on how the girls were doing. Samantha was still upset, but she seemed much more composed than she was earlier. Renee obviously thought she was feeling better because she said that she and Dean were going to head over to the arena to allow them some time to talk. _

"_I'm glad to see you." Seth said as he sat down on the bed next to her._

"_Sure didn't look like it."_

"_I was just surprised. I didn't expect to see you."_

"_Well that was pretty obvious. Didn't think you'd be going off with another woman if you knew I was showing up."_

"_I know how that must have looked Sam. I'm so sorry you saw that and got upset." Seth said sounding very sinceer. "Yes she was flirting with me, but it's my job to talk to the fans and be polite. If I'm rude I'll end up getting myself in trouble. I ended the conversation and was going to go back up to my room, and she got into the elevator too. She said she was staying here as well. But I wasn't going with her. I wouldn't do that to you."_

"_And what if she was lying and was just going to follow you to your room? Then what?"_

"_Then I wouldn't have let her in, I would have gone down to the front desk and have her escorted out and my room changed." He answered. _

"_I really want to believe that Seth. Deep down I do, but it's just so hard. I barely ever get to see you. And then the only time I go you have women all over you at random hotels. It's just so hard." Samantha said upset, more with the situation than him at the moment. _

_He placed his hand on her leg and looked at her. "So come home with me."_

"_I can't. I only took off today and tomorrow to see you." Samantha replied._

_Seth smiled. "That's not what I meant. Come home with me, and stay."_

_She looked at him very surprised. _

"_I was going to talk to you about it next time we were together. This isn't really how I wanted it to go, but there's probably no better time to bring it up than now."_

"_Seth, are you serious?"_

"_Of course. You don't think I miss getting to see you too? You don't think I'd much rather all those other women I see be you?" He said as he pushed her hair out of her face. "And now you'll know no matter where I am I'm always coming home to you." He said as he placed his forehead on hers causing her to smile. _


	6. Chapter 6

Samantha felt so isolated. Seth started getting on her case with all the phone calls she was making to her family. He kept asking her if she was hiding something from him. He ended up calling her at random times throughout the day making sure she was home. She was still using debit cards under his account so he was able to keep track of everything she bought. The more time that went by, not only did she not feel like his girlfriend, she barely even felt like a person.

Autumn was approaching and Samantha started to get nervous about the holidays. Her parents had started asking her if she and Seth were coming for any of them. She of course wanted to, but she wasn't sure how Seth felt about it. He had never mentioned going to see any of them for the upcoming holidays, so she didn't know if he just wasn't thinking about it or didn't want to go.

She finally decided to bring it up to him during one of their phone calls, but it just turned into another argument about her being selfish and trying to take them away from his family for the holidays. And how she knew how important all of that was to his mom. She tried telling him that she hadn't seen her family in months and she wasn't asking for both holidays just one, but he just kept arguing with her and calling her horrible things, so she dropped it. He was blowing this way out of proportion so she figured something else must have been bothering him and she'd try and bring it up again at a later time. She thought that was the end of it until she was vacuuming the next morning and heard the front door slam.

"Seth, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Samantha asked worried. He wasn't scheduled to be home for another few days.

"Family emergency." He replied.

"What happened?"

"My girlfriend is being a gaslighting bitch and it ended up getting her into an accident."

Before she even had time to react to what Seth said, he had punched her so hard he knocked her to the ground, then proceed to knock the air out of her with a kick to her stomach.

"I don't know what the hell you thought you were doing by calling me while I was on the road, bringing up shit I said we were done with, then arguing with me about it." He said as he stood over her wit his foot holding her down.

Samantha was terrified. She wasn't even able to process everything that was going on around her, or why. And Seth had never been this angry before. She didn't even understand why he was so angry. She just wanted it all to stop.

"Seth." She tried to choke out.

"Shut up." He said coldly.

He removed his foot from her and seemed to walk away. She rolled over onto her stomach trying to push herself back up.

"You clearly have no respect for me. Bothering me while I'm at work, arguing with me while I'm away thinking you could because I was far away."

He returned back to her side, pushing her down yet again.

"Seth, please, I swear I wasn't trying to. I was just trying to talk to you about the holidays. My mom had asked me what we were doing." She said in a shaky voice, trying to explain everything so he would stop.

"Again, all I hear is that my family isn't good enough for you and you want to run away."

"No! I just wanted to see my family for Christmas or Thanksgiving, that's it. I'm not running away." She begged. But even her begging didn't change the fact he thought she was still trying to argue with him, which made him even angrier.

"You're going to learn to respect me one way or another." He said.

She then felt a sharp stinging in her back and yelled out. It wasn't until the second time when she heard the crack of his leather belt hitting her back that she realized what it was.

"Are you done now?" He asked, almost annoyed.

She didn't answer. She was just trying to breathe normally as tears welled up in her eyes. He reached up and swung the belt one more time, harder than the previous two causing her to yell out again.

"Get up." He ordered.

She tried as hard as she could to suck all of the pain in and get to her feet as quick as possible. She was having a hard time, but she was worried the longer she took the angrier he would get. She managed to stand, shaking due to the pain and fear. Seth seemed to be getting more and more aggressive as the months had gone by. What used to just be a mean word or a shove, had turned into a punch, which turned into kicking her when she was down. She didn't know where he would go from here and she was terrified she was going to find out.

"Now you're going to spend the rest of the night doing what I say when I saw it. If you utter one word that I didn't tell you to say I'll make damn sure you regret it. And maybe by the time I leave you'll understand how to respect your boyfriend. Understood?"

He spoke in a low threatening voice. She nodded tears silently flowing down her face. She tried to hold them back, but they were just falling. "Good girl." He commented. Then reached up and grabbed her tightly by the back of the neck dragging her to another part of the house.


	7. Chapter 7

Tuesday morning there was a knock at the front door. Megan had been knocking on and off for the last few minutes. Figuring maybe Samantha was out back or in the shower, he opened the front door and walked in.

"Sam! You ready to go?" She called out as she looked around.

She knew Samantha was home because she always locked the front door when she went out. They usually left for the food store twenty minutes ago.

"Sam, where are you?" Megan asked as she wandered around the downstairs of the house.

After not finding her downstairs she made her way upstairs. Maybe she was in the bathroom or on the phone or something and didn't hear her come in. She made her way upstairs. The door to the master bedroom was closed, so she opened it slightly and saw someone laying in the bed wrapped up in blankets.

"Hey sleeping beauty. Let's get going. We gotta beat toe two pm old lady rush." Megan joked as she walked over to the bed.

Samantha stayed rolled over on the bed away from her friend. "Sorry Meg. We're going out of town to a friend's for a few days so I don't need to go this week." She mumbled.

"Hey, are you okay?" Megan asked, noticing that Samantha didn't sound quite right as she spoke. She tried to lean in and touch Samantha on the shoulder, but when she connected with ehr body Samantha jumped and flinched. "Whoa, Sam, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just had a little accident yesterday so I'm sore." Samantha tried to say.

"What kind of accident?" Megan asked as she sat down on the bed next to her.

Samantha was trying to get Megan to leave, but it was obvious she wasn't going to do that until she knew Samantha was okay. She turned over slightly to look at Megan, and when she Megan saw her she gasped. Her face was swollen, there were random red marks on her arms and shoulder, and she was moving very gingerly.

"What happened?" Megan asked incredibly concerned.

"I fell down the steps yesterday trying t o pick up laundry." Samantha lied.

"Did the washing machine fall on top of you?" Megan asked. It was partially a joke, but also partially a statement to how bad she looked.

"I was at the top and fell all the way down."

"It looks really nasty. Does Seth know? Do you want me to call him?"

"He came home yesterday." Samantha answered.

"Did you want me to get you anything from the store? Some pain killers, ice packs, anything for dinner?" Megan offered.

"No thanks. I have some stuff here. The only thing I need to get done today is pack." Samantha replied trying to sit up, but wincing when she did.

Are you sure you're up for a trip right now?" Megan asked,

"It's not a vacation or anything. It's our friend's anniversary and they invited us down for a few days. Mostly just relaxing and hanging out. I can probably handle it." Samantha explained.

"Okay, well then why don't you let me help you?" Megan said with a smile.

"No, no. I got it. You go get to the store."

"I can go later. I'll just run the old ladies over with my cart if they get in the way." Megan joked.

The next day Samantha and Seth arrived in Las Vegas. It was Dean an Renee's one year wedding anniversary and they decided to invite some friends to celebrate with them and just have a fun time. Just a nice laid back time. When Seth got back on the road, he explained to them that she had an accident so they expected to see her a little hanged up, but Samantha still felt weird about it even thought she was with people who were close to her.

Renee and Samantha were alone talking in the kitchen with a glass of wine.

"How are you feeling?" Renee asked.

"Sore, but I'm doing okay?" Samantha answered.

She honestly was feeling a little better just by being around other people. It was a distraction for her to talk and smile with others. And she had some sense of comfort knowing that Seth wouldn't do anything while they were staying at their friend's house. But physically, she was still hurting. Even in the warmer climate she held her baggy sweatshirt close to her. Renee kept trying to make her feel comfortable and telling her it was okay and she didn't have to feel self conscious around her, but Samantha knew she couldn't. Renee was expecting just bruises and her to be banged up from the stairs, but there was no way she knew about the slashes on her back and legs, or the huge bruises on her sides from being kicked.

"Can I get you anything?" Renee asked.

"I'm good. This helps." Samantha smiled as she held up her wine glass.

"Well I an help with that then." Renee said as she went to grab the bottle to refill her glass. "So are you excited about the move?"

Samantha looked at her slightly confused.

"Dean told me about the land that Seth bought. Said he was breaking ground for the house on New Years. I wonder what he's going to do with that much land though."

"Oh yeah, right." Samantha said acting like she knew what Renee was talking about. "He hasn't told me what his plans for it are for it yet. I'm not even sure if he's figured it out himself."

"Nine acres. He had to have some kind of plan when he bought that much." Renee said as she took a drink of her wine.

Dean and Seth had just come inside and now joined the girls in the kitchen. Seth came up and put his arm around Samantha holding her tight. She had to flight back the urge to flinch. They were all talking while she was lost in her thoughts. She had no idea that Seth had bought a large amount of land. It wasn't her money so he didn't have to consult with her beforehand, but still. She had no idea he was building a new house on all of this land. And she didn't know what that meant for her. Was he kicking her out, did he expect her to move in with him? And why hadn't he said absolutely anything about it to her when he told other people and already had plans to break ground in two short months.

"So did you guys figure out the holiday plans yet?" Dean asked breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, we compromised. We'll go to Colorado for Thanksgiving and spend Christmas in Iowa." Seth replied.

'Compromise, right.' Samantha thought.

"_You wanna go see them so bad? Fine. We'll go. But you bet your ass it'll be the last time you see them for a long time." Seth growled holding her town as she wasn't able to fight back the years anymore. _

"Oh! You should back here for Halloween then! We have all kinds of fun!" Renee said excitedly.

"I'm not sure I'd feel safe here on Halloween with that psycho running around." Seth joked pointing at Dean who just shrugged.

Samantha mentally left the conversation again. She now new what had to be done. She had to leave. She had no idea how she would, or even when she would, but she knew she had to. If he was going to take her with him to the new home, she was going to be completely alone. She wouldn't have any neighbors around her to talk to. There would be nothing close enough around for her to walk to. And she didn't even want to think about what could happen with his temper if they were out there. But, having no money of her own, no car, and everything she did monitored, it was going to be a challenge. But one she knew she had to try. At this point she was worried her life depended on it, and if it did, at least she would go down fighting.


	8. Chapter 8

Samantha had frequently been waking up to nightmares over the last few weeks. She was in the middle of a field, or surrounded by trees, or would run b no matter what direction she ran she met with a tall metal fence. She'd look around with no way out and all she could hear in the distance was Seth calling for her, stalking her around his property. Then she would wake up in a cold sweat, thankfully she was alone most of those times.

Seth had noticed a change in her lately. At first he thought it was just her learning to be more obedient since she was quieter, but something just seemed off. He couldn't quite figure it out, but she never looked him in the eye anymore. When she spoke it was never more than a few word sentence. It seemed like she was hiding something, but he couldn't figure out what. There were no e-mails going to anyone, no phone calls that seemed out of place, the only money that was spent was for what it usually went to. However the closer it got to Thanksgiving, the more she seemed to open up. She was really excited to see her family. By the time they go to Colorado she was beaming. She was in love with the mountains and the cool crisp air. She never thought she would miss it this much.

Seth put on her wonderful sweet persona while he was with her family, just as he always was. Samantha didn't see that side of him much anymore. A least not for an extended period of time. They were having a nice time gathered around catching up. While her parents were talking with Seth, Samantha tried to get a few minutes alone with her sister. They ran up to a guest room upstairs and shut the door.

"Sarah, can I borrow your phone for a minute?" Samantha asked.

"Where's yours?" Her sister asked.

"I don't have it anymore and I have to make an important phone call. Please?"

Sarah pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to her sister.

"Thank you." Samantha walked across to the other side of room and dialed one of the few phone numbers she had memorized.

"Hello?"

"Hey Finn. It's Sam."

"Hey darlin. How are you? You finally replace that phone?"

"No. I'm at my parents house for Thanksgiving so I stole my sister's phone. I wanted to talk with you about something."

"What's up?"

"I, I need a favor." She stammered.

"Anything. What is it?"

Samantha sighed. "I really hate to ask this, but can I borrow some money? I'll pay you back as soon as I can. I just need a loan."

She really really hated to ask, but she needed to. She felt like she couldn't ask her parents without tons of questions. And she knew if she asked her sister she would just hound her about why couldn't she just borrow it from Seth. Finn would most likely believe her more.

"Oh. How much do you need?"

"Whatever extra you have. If you have anything you're willing to lend that is."

"Can I ask what it's for?"

"Christmas presents." She answered.

"Why ask me and not Seth?" He asked.

"It's for Seth. And I want it to be a surprise. If I ask him he'll figure it out." She lied.

"Ah. That makes sense. How much do you actually need?"

"I told you…" She replied.

"You never gave me a number." He pushed.

"In total I need a couple hundred I think. But I was going to see if I could borrow some from you and from my parents and I have some time to get it together." She explained rapidly.

"That's a lot of money Sam." Finn said to her as if he didn't completely believe her.

"I know." She replied sounding somewhat defeated.

"Sam, you're not into drugs or something are you?" Finn asked concerned.

"What? God no."

"Good. Because I couldn't supposed that kind of thing."

"I swear Finn, it's nothing like that."

"You know if you're in some kind of trouble you can come to me. If you're in some kind of debt or something."

"I know Finn. Thanks." She said interrupting him. He might not have realized it, but that's exactly what she was doing.

"So how are we doing this?" He asked. He realized she wanted him to drop it.

"Um, maybe if you could just buy one of those gift cards and put the money on that. Then you can mail it to my sister, I'll give you the address, then she can send it to me." Samantha answered.

"Why wouldn't I just send it to you?"

"Because that might look odd if I randomly get mail from you. But it wouldn't be weird getting it from her." Samantha explained.

Samantha finished up the conversation with Finn and gave him her sister's address. Once she was off the call, she handed the phone back to Sarah.

"So, are you going to tell me what that was all about?" Sarah asked.

"You'll see in time. But seriously, it is a surprise so please don't say anything to anyone, okay? And if Seth asks what we were talking about, tell him it was about a guy you're dating or something."

"Alright, alright." Sarah said giving in.

"Also, when you do finally get it, can you try and mail it to me so it gets there on a day where Seth is traveling. Just in case that happens to be the one day he decides to get the main." Samantha said trying to joke to make her sister feel better about the conversation she just heard.

Sarah was very intrigued by whatever it was her sister was planning. It wasn't like her to be secretive, especially with her, so she knew it had to be big.

The next morning, the alarm was going off very early. Samantha always got up early to help her mother prepare dinner and watch the parade with her family. She stretched out in the bed in the guest room and yawned. She could feel that the she was alone in the bed. But she could also feel like she was being stared at. Once her eyes adjusted she looked up and saw Seth standing in the room holding a cup of coffee staring at her.

"Morning beautiful." He said with a very large smile across his face.

"Good morning?" She said unsure of his unusually good mood so early.

"It's going to be a wonderful day." He said, then sipped some of his coffee and turned to leave the bedroom.

"Well that was weird." Samantha said to herself as she rubbed her face.

Moments after Seth left the room Sarah came running in and jumped onto Samantha on the bed screaming.

"What are you doing?" Samantha asked as her sister rolled off of her.

"Celebrating!" Sarah said excitedly.

Samantha laughed. "Are you that excited for turkey?"

"Seriously? You don't have to pretend! Seth came down and told us this morning. He told everyone this morning!" Sarah exclaimed as she grabbed her sister's hand.

Samantha looked and saw a beautiful diamond ring that was not on her finger when she went to sleep. It was probably only seconds, but it felt like she was staring at it for minutes.

"Congratulations!" Sarah said as she threw her arms around her sister. "Did this have anything to do with yesterday?"

"No." Samantha said in shock. "I had no idea this was coming." She answered looking then at the ring, then perked her head up when something Sarah said clicked into her head. "What do you mean he told everyone?"

Sarah grabbed her phone and opened Instagram. She scrolled through to find Seth's most recent post. It was a picture of Samantha, laying on her stomach, fast asleep in bed. Her arms were cuddled into the pillow in front of her and the ring was right in front. The room was still pretty dark, but the flash made the ring shine being the focal point of the picture. It was captioned: "#HappyThanksgiving This year I'm thankful for this woman right here, and all of the years to come"

She couldn't believe it. He was trapping her. She wanted to believe he was trying to be romantic and spontaneous, but deep down she knew he did what he did so she wouldn't get a chance to say no. And the whole word already knew. She really wanted to cry, but out of anger. He had spent the last few years trying to control and isolate her, and now he had her trapped. He now expected her to spend the rest of her life as his maid, chef, sex slave, and punching bag.

She went through the rest of the day as planned. She acted as happy and upbeat as she did the morning she arrived. She spent the day being lovey dovey towards Seth. She played the part of the excited fiance to her family. It took everything in her to pretend to be happy about the engagement and wedding planning to her family all day. She was even more upset now when they had to leave to go back home. She couldn't flip and feel how she felt on the inside, she still had to pretend to be happy with Seth. They were dropped off at the airport by her parents and for the first time in days, they were alone.

"You know, you are a really good cook." He said to her as they sat at the gate.

"Thank you." She replied.

"Did you have a nice time?"

"I really did. I've missed it there." She answered honestly.

"Good. Because you're not seeing them until the wedding."

"Bridal shower." She corrected, trying to make the conversation normal so he didn't see how upset and angry she was internally.

"What?"

"Usually shortly before the wedding there is a bridal shower. All the women get together, there's food, they give gifts and share well wishes for the bride and the new couple." She explained.

"Well whatever." He said then sunk down in his seat, trying to get comfortable until it's time to board the plane. "We have to go to my mom' when we get back. She wants to see us."


	9. Chapter 9

Samantha was surprised how quickly she got the letter from her sister. She was even more surprised when she saw the amount on the gift card, and the note saying "If you need more, let me know." This was it. She was going to make a life changing decision, and once she did she couldn't turn back.

Seth had been trying to call her all day and no one answered. He could understand missing one call if she was in the shower or out getting the mail, but he had called multiple times throughout the day and she never picked up. He called his next door neighbor to see if maybe she had seen her. Maybe she was out back with Megan or they went out to the store and she hadn't been home, but Megan told him that she hadn't seen Samantha all day. She offered to go over and check on her, but Seth said it wasn't necessary. He came up with some excuse how he probably just kept missing her and said that he had only called three times, which was about ten times less than he actually called. He kept checking everything to see if he could find some kind of activity on any of his accounts, but he found nothing. By the early evening, he finally caved in and called Sarah to see if she had heard from her sister.

Sarah said she hadn't talked to Samantha in a few days and was immediately worried. She suggested calling the police to go and check on the house since neither of them were close enough to. He tried calming her down telling her that his next door neighbor already offered to do that, and that if she hadn't heard from Samantha he'd call his neighbor back and ask her to run over. He said he would call her back when he heard.

As soon as Sarah hung up the phone, she felt like something was wrong. Samantha would never just go missing for that long and not be heard from by anyone. Someone would have to know where she was, She started pacing back and forth in her living room staring at her phone waiting for Seth to call back when there was a knock at her front door.

This was it. Today was the day. Samantha had gone around the house gathering up the things that were hers, which wasn't much. She packed away her clothes into a suitcase, the ones that she brought with her, not the ones that Seth bought. She took the diamond ring and left it on the coffee table with a note that simply read "Goodbye" along with his house key. She grabbed her suitcase and backpack and started her walk into town. Once she got there, she went into a store to use their phone to call a cab to take her to the airport. She didn't by a ticket ahead of time because she didn't want to risk anything being tracked, so when she arrived she bought a ticket for the first available flight to Colorado. She kept her head down as she waited to board the plane hoping that no one would happen to recognize her. It wasn't until she was on the plane and it was up in the air she finally felt like she could breathe.

Once the plane landed, she grabbed her bag and found a phone where she could call for a cab to take her to her sister's apartment.

Sarah opened the door and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Sam! Thank God! What are you doing here? Seth called and said he hasn't been able to get a hold of you!" She said throwing her arms around her sister.

"Don't tell him I'm here, please." Samantha begged looking up at her sister. "Don't tell anyone I'm here. Not yet."  
"Sam, what's going on?"

"I left him." Samantha replied walking passed her sister into her apartment.

"What? Why?" Sarah asked confused as she closed her door and followed Samantha.

"It's a long story. Just please promise me you won't tell anyone I'm here. I don't want mom and dad to know in case he calls them. I don't want anyone to know until I can figure things out." Samantha pleaded as she sat down on the couch.

Samantha was actually afraid to tell her sister. She was afraid that Sarah wouldn't believe her after how she had always talked to highly of Seth and because she had never seen the bad side of him. She was afraid she'd lose her sister because her Sarah would think she's lying. Or that Sarah would call Seth and tell her where she was and he'd take her back with him. She couldn't risk that right now. She wasn't sure what her next step was going to be, she was just so happy she had managed to get away.

"Can we talk about it tomorrow? I would just really like to get a shower after the flight and get some rest." Samantha asked. The whole "I'm tired" excuse had seemed to work on people lately.

"Sure. We can talk tomorrow." Sarah agreed not wanting to push her sister too hard. She could tell Samantha was really upset. "I'll go get you some towels."

"Would you mind grabbing me a blanket too? I'll just crash on the couch." Samantha asked.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch Sam."

"Its fine. It's late, and you didn't expect me to be here so I don't want to put you out anymore than I already have."

Sarah didn't argue, but she knew that something was wrong. They had shared a room growing up together, they had shared a bed together many times, tonight wouldn't have been any different. And she never put her sister out, they were always there for each other, whenever they needed it, and she knew that.

Samantha disappeared into the bathroom to take a long hot shower. When she got out, she was surprised to see Sarah sitting on the couch. She thought she would have gone to bed by now.

"Sam, we need to talk." Sarah said to her as she was holding a piece of paper in her hand. "This fell out of your backpack when you pulled some clothes out."

It was a note that Samantha had written before she left and stuck it in there before she left Seth's house. "If this is found and I am not, check the 9 acres. - Samantha Dennison"

Sleep wasn't something that happened that night. After that note was found, Samantha had to come clean. They had talked and cried into the early hours of the morning. Sarah wasn't sure why Samantha thought she wouldn't believe her. Samantha told her stories, showed her the bruises that she currently had, told her about how he was planning to move and she had no idea.

"He didn't even actually ask me to marry him. I woke up and the ring was there and he had posted it all over social media. You were the one who actually told me I was engaged." Samantha explained.

"What'd you do with it?" Sarah asked.

"I left it there."

"You didn't pawn it? You probably could have gotten some serious money for that thing!"

"And risk him being petty and dragging me to court over it just to find out where I am? No thanks."

Sarah's cell phone started to ring. It was very early in the morning, too early for any kind of friend to call. Both of their hearts sank to their stomach as they looked in the direction of the phone. Sarah picked it up and looked at it.

"I don't know this number." She said.

Samantha looked over at it. "It's Finn." She stated.

"Hello." Sarah answered shakily.

"Hello. I'm sorry, I know it's early, and you don't actually know me, but I'm a friend of your sister's. She called me from this number a few weeks ago, and I didn't know who else to call." Finn explained rapidly. "I'm worried about Sam. Her boyfriend took off last night seeming pretty upset claiming it was another family emergency. I've been trying to call Sam and see if everything was okay but she hasn't answered the phone. It's the second family emergency he's had in a short time period."

"I, I haven't heard from her." Was all Sarah could think to say.

"Do you think we should call the police or something? It's not like her to not answer, what if the emergency is about her?" Finn suggester.

"I'm sure if Seth left he knows what's going on and is with her." Sarah tried lying like Samantha asked her to.

"I'm not sure. He's been acting really weird since they got engaged." Finn stated.

Samantha too the phone from her sister. She appreciated very much her lying for her, but she was worried that Finn actually would call the police no matter what Sarah said.

"Finn, it's Sam. I'm okay. Don't call the police."

"Oh thank God." He sighed.

"Please don't call anybody. Don't tell anyone you talked to me. You haven't heard from me. I'll call you as soon as I can. And thank you."

She hung up the phone and put it down between them on the couch.

"Is that why you wanted to borrow money?" Sarah asked,

Samantha nodded. "After I found out about him buying the land, and how bad he beat me that one night, I knew I needed to leave. But I didn't have anything. I had gone through my savings helping out after I moved there. Then after that he just put me on his accounts so he could see everything I bought and did. I needed to get out. And I didn't want an interrogation from you or mom. I was desperate." Samantha explained.

A few hours had gone by. Sarah called out of work that day. Samantha finally fell asleep in Sarah's bed after the exhaustion of everything. Sarah on the other hand wasn't able to sleep. She was too angry and upset. She was also scared for her sister. She didn't know what the plan was from here, but she had to start talking to people soon before someone reported her missing. She was sitting on the couch by herself thinking when there was a knock at her front door.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she cracked open the door.

"I know she's here."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sarah lied.

"Really?" Seth asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Then why no "have you heard from her" or "did you find her"? She left my house and she has no other place to go. And you don't seem too worried about her missing anymore. I don't know how she got here, but I know she's here."

Sarah had never seen Seth like this. His friendly eyes were so cold and the way he spoke was so demanding.

"I don't know what to tell you. Whatever issues you two have that made her leave need to be worked out by you two. She doesn't tell me about that stuff." Sarah tried to convince him.

"If she's not here, then she's at your parents. Do you really want me to go over there and bring them into this?" He asked, almost as if he was threatening her.

Sarah just shrugged. "If you feel like that's what you need to do. But since no one has called me, I doubt she's there either." She said calling his bluff.

Seth leaned in close to her. "You know where she is. And at some point, one of you need to leave the apartment, and when you do, I'm coming in and taking her with me."

Sarah had tried to play dumb long enough, and she just couldn't stomach the man that was standing in front of her anymore.

"Look, if she left you, she obviously had a reason. If she doesn't want to go back with you, then she doesn't have to."

"Like hell she doesn't."

"She's leaving this apartment over my dead body." She tried to say as stern as she possibly could.

His eyes narrowed and he smiled at her. "If that's how you feel." He said, then turned to walk away.

Sarah quickly shut the door and locked it. She walked a little bit back into her apartment and saw Samantha sitting up in the bed.

"Thanks for trying." She said.

"Don't worry. He doesn't know for sure you're here because he didn't see you. Do you want to call the cops now?" Sarah asked joining her sister on the bed.

"If I do, it'll just be my word against his. And I think we both know how that will play out. I really just want him to go back home and let me live my life."

"It doesn't look like he wants to do that Sam."

Samantha sighed. "I know."


	10. Chapter 10

"Okay, so we've gone over this. I'm going to run out and get you a phone. You need one just to make sure you can always get in touch with someone. Then I'm going to run and grab us some dinner real quick. And I'll be right home. As soon as I leave, the door gets locked, the curtains are shut, and you don't go near a window or a door until I'm back in. Okay?"

Samantha nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

"What if he's still out there? He'll see me. Or worse, grab me."

"Are you sure you don't want me to call mom and see if she can come over and stay with you?"

"No, I can't face them yet with this. I'll be fine. I'll just hide out in the shower or something." Samantha said, partially joking but also partially serious.

Samantha cuddled up in a blanket and hid until Sarah came back. She had just gotten back inside before the rain started to pour down. She set a pizza box down on her small kitchen table as Samantha came back out into the living room.

"Here you go." Sarah said handing one of those prepaid phones. "He couldn't track you on this baby if he tried."

"Thank you." Samantha said with a smile.

They put the television on and ate on the couch as Samantha activated her phone. She only programmed a few numbers into it so far. Only the ones she really needed. She couldn't talk to anyone else just yet anyway. Most of her friends were Seth's friends, so if she tried to talk with them they'd probably take his side. For all she knew he already had them turned against her for leaving. Suddenly, everything in the apartment went dark.

"What's happening?" Samantha asked worriedly.

Sarah groaned. "This happens sometimes when it storms out." Sarah got up to go and find a flashlight. "The electric isn't always the best out here."

"How long is it usually out for?" Samantha asked.

"Shortest is an hour. Usually around three or four though.

Thunder crashed, and Samantha swore she could hear a bunch of other sounds mixed in, but she calmed herself down telling herself she was just being paranoid. But then she really did think she heard something on the other side of the wall.

"Do you hear that?" She asked. "Do they still have power?"

It distinctly sounded like a television off into the distance.

"That's weird. Usually the entire building is out." Sarah stated.

Sarah opened her door and stepped out slightly to look at the windows around her. They were all lit. And she could hear televisions playing.

"That's really weird. It looks like we're the only ones out." She said as she came back into the house.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Seth standing in her living room. His hair was soaking wet from the rain. Samantha was standing in front of him. His hand was wrapped tightly in her hair and he was holding a knife to her.

"We are leaving. And if you get in the way of that, it will be over your dead body as you stated earlier. So I suggest you move."

"Seth, I'll do whatever you want just please don't hurt her." Samantha begged.

"Shut up." He demanded as he pulled hard on her hair. "You're coming home with me. And your sister is going to get out of my way and keep her damn mouth shut if she wants both of you to live."

"Seth, you don't have to do this." Sarah tried to reason with him.

"Shut your damn mouth." He demanded as he pointed the knife out towards her.

"Something just doesn't seem right." Renee stated. "Why wouldn't he have called by now to let us know what's going on?"

"Maybe it's something that he didn't think we would really be worried about. Maybe his brother got into a minor accident or something." Roman said.

Dean made a weird face. "I don't know. I could have sworn I heard him mumbling something about Sam before he left."

The three were in a locker room backstage getting ready for the show that night discussing among themselves. They knew that Seth had left and were told it was an emergency, but he hadn't called or texted anyone to let them know what was going on. His friends were starting to get anxious. Finn was around too, but mostly just keeping to himself as he got ready.

"I hope she didn't have another accident." Renee stated.

"What do you mean another accident?" Roman asked.

Finn's ears perked up.

"Last time he left because Sam took a nasty fall down the stairs. They came to visit us shortly after and she was pretty messed up." Dean answered.

Suddenly, it seemed like everything had clicked in Finn's head. The marks he saw on her wrestlemania weekend, why she seemed like she was out of it, why she didn't want anyone to know where she was, why she had to borrow money, it all made sense.

"What about you Balor. Have you heard from him?" Dean asked.

"No, I haven't. But Renee is correct. Something isn't right."

Finn left the locker room leaving everyone with questioning looks as he went out into the hallway and pulled out his cell phone.

Sarah's phone started to ring. Seth looked over at it on the couch and recognized the number.

"Why the hell is he calling you?" He asked.

"We're dating." Sarah blurted out. It was the first thing she could think of.

"Bull shit. I spend enough time with him, he would've told me." Seth replied, then looked down at Samantha. "That's how you got out wasn't it. You went behind my back and got to him." Seth yelled.

"Seth, please just calm down." Sarah tried to say. He just ignore her.

"Did you fuck him? I bet you did. He always seemed a little bit too close to you, and you never pushed him away." Samantha had tears in her eyes at this point. He was getting angrier and he was pushing the knife closer to her skin. "Is that why you wanted a new phone so bad? So you could call him when I was gone?"

"No. Of course not."

"Seth, let's talk about this."

"I swear Sarah if you don't shut the hell up I'll slit your throat right now." Seth yelled at her. His eyes were so cold they almost looked black. Every once in awhile when lightning flashed it would accent his facial features, and they always looked terrifying. "We're leaving now. And I'm about damn ready to kill both of you. And I have enough land that if I do they will never find either of you. Go."

He pushed Samantha forward still holding onto her hair. She shuffled her feet as she slowly began to walk towards the front door, but Sarah was still standing in front of it and standing her ground.

"Turn your ass around and get out the door to the car. I can't trust leaving you here." He demanded.

"No."

"If you don;t go down there on your own, I'm cutting you and throwing you into the truck. If you bleed to death by the time I get back home, that's on you."

Seth was slightly distracted arguing with Sarah, and Samantha being afraid for her sister's life gathered up her courage to try and elbow Seth hard in the ribs. He bent over slightly in pain causing him to release the hold on her hair. Sarah tried to lunge forward and grab the knife but he elbowed her throwing her into the wall. Samantha tried to run over to her sister but was grabbed by Seth. He held her down, staring at her, the knife still in his hand.

"You're coming with me either on foot or in a body bag. Take your pick."

Samantha was too scared to say anything. All she could do was stare at the knife held above her. Before it could come in contact with her again, Seth was tackled off of her.

The light from flashlights began to fill the apartment. Samantha sat up confused and she saw a police officer sitting in front of her. She looked around at everything that was happening. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, and she couldn't hear anything. She saw Seth being handcuffed and looked like he was yelling. She saw some people come in and kneel down by Sarah. Once Seth was taken out of the apartment, she focused on the officer sitting in front of her.

"Ms Dennison, are you okay?" She finally heard him say.

"Sarah." Was all she replied. She looked over and saw her sister sitting up against the wall holding her head as a medic team was talking with her.

"Are you hurt?" He asked again.

"I, I don't think so. Why are you here?"

"We got a call to do a welfare check. Looks like it's god we did." The officer replied as another medic team came in and sat down next to Samantha.

Samantha and Sarah were taken to the hospital to get checked out. Sarah ended up with a black eye and a headache, but thankfully no concussion. Samantha had some cuts and bumps, but thankfully that was the extent of her physical injuries. After the hospital they were taken down to the police station to make their reports. Samantha's went on, explaining everything that had been happening over the last year. They also called her parents down so they could meet and be informed of everything that was happening and what steps would be taken next. It wasn't until about five the next morning when the four of them arrived back at their parent's house and they were finally left alone to get some rest. Once Samantha was alone in the guest room, she pulled out her phone and called one of the few numbers she had put in it earlier.

"Hello." A man answered not recognizing the phone number.

"It was you wasn't it? How did you know?" She asked straight away.

"Wasn't that hard to figure out when I put all the pieces together. I overheard Dean and Renee talking about your previous "accident", that mixed with that I saw, put together with you needing money, wanting to be in hiding, and then Seth going MIA, I just knew something wasn't right. I figured worst case, I made the call and they showed up to nothing and I would just have overreacted.." Finn explained.

"You didn't overreact. He was going to kill me. Probably both of us." Samantha told him.

"Oh Sam. I'm so sorry."

"He said I was leaving with him on foot or in a body bag. And honestly, if I made it back home, I don't think I would have made it very long/" Samantha said slightly crying.

"I'm so sorry I didn't see it."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. I didn't see it either until it was almost too late."

"Is there anything I can do?" Finn asked.

Samantha smiled. "You have already done more than enough. You got me out. And you saved my life. Without your help, I'd still be at his house. Thank you."

Finn has so many questions he wanted to ask her, but he knew this was not the time. Maybe somewhere down the line he would be able to. But for now, he would just focus on the fact that his friend was still alive. "You don't have to..."  
"I mean it Finn. Thank you.:


End file.
